Lok Sabha polls: VVPAT matching may delay results

SC had ordered increase of random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs from one booth to five booths in every Assembly segment.

Wait for the final tally in the Lok Sabha election, on the counting day, on May 23, could get a bit longer.

This is because of the Supreme Court’s order to increase random matching of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) from one booth to five booths in every Assembly segment.

The result could get delayed by four hours or till the morning of May 24, according to a report by NDTV that cites an election officer.

Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain, who is in charge of VVPATs, told NDTV that matching VVPAT slips in one booth takes about an hour on an average.

If the procedure is extended to four more booths, an additional four hours will be needed. So, the final results will be declared by the evening or latest by May 24 morning, Jain added. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

The VVPAT system, which is being used for the first time in a general election, enables allows the voters to verify that their votes are cast as intended. It is an independent system attached to the EVM. When a vote is cast, a slip is printed on the VVPAT printer containing the serial number, name and symbol of the candidate and remains exposed through a transparent window for seven seconds. Thereafter, this printed slip automatically gets cut and falls in sealed drop box of the VVPAT.

Ahead of the elections, leaders of 21 Opposition parties had sought matching of 50 percent VVPAT with EVMs. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, however, did not agree to the request on the ground that it will require huge manpower and not be feasible in view of infrastructural difficulties.